Breaking Point
by AspiringAuthoress
Summary: ON HIATUS UNTIL JUNE! Everyone has a breaking point. Even sweet, mild mannered Gabriella. Troyella.
1. Breaking Point

**Originally I had intended for this story to be a one-shot but as I looked over it I definitely saw some chapter story potential. So please read through it and if you want me to continue it please let me know. Thanks.**

Elements of confusion and surprise wormed and twisted their way through the halls of East High. Something out of the ordinary was heading towards the students in the left wing of the school. They didn't know it yet but an ominous force was about to permeate their lives, if only for a few minutes. Those students were sure to be mystified and it was probable that some of them would be caught in the backlash. If possible those students should have packed their bags and left the school as soon as was humanly possible. Rumors and gossips floated along in sentences behind these warnings.

Troy Bolton had cheated on Gabriella Montez. And they were both headed this way.

Gabriella stormed down the center of the hallway gripping her books so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, not caring enough to notice that she was forcing students to shoot out of her way. Not that any one of them was going to stop her. They could feel the waves of fury that rolled off of her. They could see the scowl that had twisted her generally delicate features. The normally sweet, even tempered Gabriella had become nothing short of a force of nature.

"Gabriella! Will you stop for _one second_?!" Paces behind her Troy followed the brunette occasionally reaching out a hand as if to grab her shoulder. Though there were still traces of confusion and anguish in his face, Troy's expression was quickly becoming irritated. Sporadically he would shoot a look of sympathy to someone Gabriella had nearly run over or a grimace when he passed one of his friends. It was obvious to any of the spectators watching that Troy Bolton was about to become single.

Gabriella slammed into her locker; she was so lost in her rage that she had stormed right by it. Violently she spun the lock to form the right combination and swung the door open, letting it crash noisily into the adjacent locker. Troy caught up to her and leaned against another locker. He allowed himself to glance at his fuming companion and an involuntary sigh escaped his lips.

"Look, Gabriella I know you're mad at me but- Hey!" The brunette had dropped her bulky history textbook in the exact place that Troy's foot had been seconds before. It connected with the ground with a dull thunk, a sound that assured the basket ball captain that he would have been limping for the next week if not for his toned reflexes.

"So sorry." She hissed in a way that made it clear that Gabriella was only sorry that the missile had missed its target.

Gabriella angrily shoved assorted text books and binders into her bag. She hoped that she had grabbed the right ones, although she sincerely doubted that she would be doing any homework that later night. She slammed her locker closed again, twisted the lock until it clicked shut and stalked away without looking once at Troy.

"Gabriella!" Troy called after her and again he was chasing her down the hall. He had never seen Gabriella react this way before. He had never even seen her as angry as she was in his life. The worst part though, was that although Troy still didn't have a complete grasp on what he had done to make her react in this way, he knew that it was entirely his fault.

Gabriella couldn't honestly remember being as angry as she was at the moment in her life. She knew that she had been angry when Sharpay had done her best to break her and Troy up. As hard as she tried though Gabriella couldn't find _that_ anger at the moment. She tried to tell herself it was because she was so mad at Troy that she couldn't find any more anger inside herself. But Gabriella had never been one to delude herself and she knew that it was because at that moment she dearly wished that Sharpay had succeeded.

They needed to talk, that much Troy knew. He wasn't sure exactly why Gabriella was so mad at him, although he was quite capable of guessing correctly. Still Troy wanted to hear from Gabriella the reason why she was so mad at him before he started throwing ideas out there. After all God knew that Troy didn't need her to be any angrier at him than she already was. So he said the one thing that he knew would send her over the edge in an effort to discover where Gabriella's anger had come from.

"What the hell is your _problem_?" Troy stopped walking and stood in the middle of the hallway with his arms half raised in a questioning manner. As he had anticipated Gabriella stopped walking away from him. Instead she turned around stalked back until she was standing less than a foot away.

"My problem? Troy, _you_ are my problem. Because apparently my boyfriend doesn't love me. Apparently I'm not _enough_ for him!" Gabriella was yelling by the end of her tirade. The same Gabriella who was shy, sweet, and easy-going was now drawing more attention to herself than she ever had before. She didn't notice though because she was too busy waiting for the excuse she already knew was coming. She had ears, she had heard the gossip, and Gabriella only wanted to know how much of it was true.

"I was drunk Gabriella! It meant nothing! She meant nothing! I don't even know her name!" Troy did his best not to draw any more attention to the argument, whispering his part quietly enough that only Gabriella could hear him. Still his words carried the same fierceness that Gabriella's yell had.

"And you think that makes it okay? Troy you never should have been drinking in the first place!" Gabriella's words had quieted and she had taken on a defeated tone. It was as if she knew the argument was over and was waiting for one of them to make the final decision.

"I know that Gabriella, I do. What can I say though? I already know that we're over." Troy had successfully guided them out to the middle of the crowded hallway and into a secluded corner. He stood as far away from her as possible as if getting used to the idea that they no longer belonged together. They were no longer two halves of whole but rather two puzzle pieces that had seemed like they were going to fit together but in the end hadn't.

"Is that what you want?" She asked simply.

"No, but it's what's right. Will you ever trust me again?" He asked already knowing the answer. Gabriella didn't even have to respond verbally, the way she looked to the ground instead of in his eyes was enough for Troy. He knew he had made the right decision. Maybe not right for him, but it was undeniable right for her.

"You know that if we break up it's over for good. I won't go out with you again." She said.

Troy nodded, he knew about her rule. Gabriella was not into the break-up make-up scene. She felt that if a relationship ended there was a reason. If a couple had so many problems that they ended their relationship then there was no use getting back together. She had seen firsthand that they didn't work any better the second time around.

"I know."

Gabriella simply nodded and walked away at his answer. Numbly she walked through the hallway and out of the school. Mechanically she climbed the few stairs to enter her bus and sat in the seat across from Taylor. Gabriella pursed her lips together and reminded herself not to cry. She was still in public and knew how important it was to keep an impassive mask on her face. If people knew how she really felt the pity would come and Gabriella had no use for pity. She'd gotten her fill of pity long before.

"So…?" Taylor asked tentatively. She was no idiot, Taylor was well aware of what had happened but Gabriella was not the first recently single female she knew. Her sister had gone through many break-ups before. It was always better if the other person started talking first.

"We're over." Gabriella answered still on auto pilot, "No, I don't want to talk about it."

"You will though. So call me okay?" Generally Taylor would have hugged the person she was talking to at this time but she knew Gabriella too well. The pain was raw and Gabriella would rather bury it for the time being. The time for talking, hugs, and trash talking would come later. Right now all she could do was watch from afar and make sure Troy avoided Gabriella for the time being. Taylor hated to think about the effects that _that_ encounter could have.

The rest of the bus ride passed slowly, Gabriella stared out the window of the bus watching the trees and houses speed by. Again and again she ran through the conversation trying to find the exact point that things had gone wrong, had gone downhill. On some level Gabriella assumed that she had known that they were going to break-up. Still it hadn't felt real until Troy had said those words. Now though, everything just felt surreal. She was sure that when she looked back someday it would seem like she had overreacted but Gabriella didn't know when she'd be able to think back to this day without feeling such intense pain.

She unconsciously exited the bus at her stop and dazedly walked the short distance back to her house. Gabriella knew that her mom wouldn't be home just yet, she rarely left work on time let alone came home early. This fact, she calculated, gave her around three hours to compose herself before facing any more human contact.

Gabriella unlocked the front door, entered her house and relocked the door once again. Quietly she deposited her bag in the laundry room, kicked off her shoes, and headed upstairs. Upon entering her room Gabriella threw herself on her bed and promptly broke down in tears. She sobbed for the next two and a half hours.

Gabriella Montez had finally reached her breaking point.

**One-shot? More chapters? Throw it in the trash? Please let me know what you think. Again thanks. :)**


	2. Damage Control

**So thank you for all your reviews! I've decided to continue with but because of school can only update once a week. I'll try to keep it on Friday or Saturday. Please enjoy!**

After an hour of outright sobbing and an hour and a half of alternately crying silently and trying to do her homework Gabriella began to pull herself together. She took a ten minute shower that was just slightly less than scalding paying special attention to letting the burning water rush over her puffy eyes. Then she blow dried her hair until it was as straight as possible. Carefully Gabriella applied her make-up, a small amount of mascara and a shimmery lip gloss, better to keep it natural she decided. After all it wasn't like she was planning to go anywhere that night, _or any other night this week -or month, _she mentally added_. _Finally she grabbed the math homework that she still hadn't completed and went down to work on it in the kitchen.

When Gabriella's mother arrived home she was met with a completely average scene. Her daughter, always a good student, was hunched over a math problem calculator in one hand pencil in the other. She had no reason to suspect that anything was wrong.

"How was your day?" Their schedule was so set in stone that Ms. Monez was able to ask this question while assembling some food items for dinner and looking up the phone number of one of her clients. She knew that Gabriella would answer with a non-committal 'it was fine and yours?' and she would describe her day in detail, more than her teenage daughter really cared about knowing. Gabriella would do her homework barely listening and 'mm-hmm' and 'uh huh' when necessary. So sure was Gabriella's mother of this schedule that she began to describe her day, even after Gabriella calmly informed her mother that she had broken up with her long term boyfriend.

"Troy and I broke up today." Gabriella was proud of the evenness of her voice. It didn't betray her by wavering or cracking as she had feared that it might.

"That's nice. I had a good day too, first- Oh honey!" Ms. Montez scooped her daughter into a hug as she fully computed her daughter's words. Like her daughter she didn't believe in edging around things, she felt it was better to ask bluntly rather than to dance around a subject. It never hurt to use a little tact though, especially when the situation was particularly volatile. Having been through somewhat similar circumstances before and given that she was dealing with her teenage daughter, Ms. Montez knew just how unstable the conversation she was about to embark upon really was.

"When did this happen?" She started with a somewhat neutral question. If Gabriella snapped back then she knew there would be no use trying to extract details. Troy had been Gabriella's first serious boyfriend, Ms. Montez had no idea how Gabriella would react.

"Earlier today, just after school ended." Gabriella continued to keep her voice steady but she was careful not to give away to much information. She knew she wasn't ready to relive the real reason that they had broken up. If only her mother knew it too.

"And what brought this on? You two haven't had any problems lately."

"We decided that it was time. We've been- I mean we were together for a year and a half. It was time to move on." Gabriella had never lied to her mother before. She'd never felt that she had had a reason to before but Gabriella couldn't bring herself to feel bad about it. She told herself that it was because she knew sooner or later she would tell her mother the truth.

"I see." Gabriella noted that her mother seemed slightly mollified that her daughter wasn't completely over the edge. And truthfully Gabriella actually didn't feel like bawling again. At the moment she only wanted to listen to an angsty song or read a nice book about broken love, like Romeo and Juliet. At least she and Troy had broken up before she had killed herself over a misunderstanding. Case in point, if Troy actually hadn't cheated on her and she had broken up without his conformation, then Gabriella knew she would be torn. On one had she would undeniably want to get back together with Troy but on the other hand she would feel like a hypocrite for going back on her no 're-dating' standard.

"I have to go call Taylor." Gabriella excused herself and fled back to her bedroom. At least she had fooled her mother into believing that she was okay.

Ms. Montez hugged her daughter one more time before going back to preparing dinner. As she chopped an onion she bit her lip. Gabriella was obviously not telling her the whole story; she had made the whole situation sound a little too light. There was more to the story but Ms. Montez knew better than to push her daughter just yet.

"Hey Taylor. It's Gabriella." Gabriella was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. With one hand she cradled the phone to her ear and played with a stray sting on her comforter with the other.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Taylor's voice crackled over the phone.

"No." The string snapped off of the comforter leaving a small run in the fabric, "Not any more than necessary. I actually need you to help me with something tomorrow at school."

"What?" Taylor voice carried genuine curiosity.

"Damage control." In East High after anything happened that could possibly warrant gossip and rumors it was necessary to send out your side of the story first. Some students would listen to both sides of a story before deciding to side with one person or the other but the majority of the student body would believe whoever's side they heard first.

"Good idea. What are you going to say?"

"I don't think it really matters what I say but who I say it too." It was always a good idea to find one or two gossips that would spread the news around to anyone and everyone they came into contact with.

"True. So who do you think Troy will tell?" Taylor sounded like she was thinking it over as she spoke.

"Chad definitely and I guess the rest of the team by default." Gabriella often wondered how close Troy really was to the rest of his team. Though he sometimes hung out with Zeke and Jason his only close friend on the basketball team was Chad. Since it was basketball season and Troy was captain of the team he was constantly surrounded by teammates and supporters. When the season ended the well wishers dropped away and Troy lost most of his contact with his former teammates, until the season started up again.

"Oh…oh no." Taylor's voice wavered through the phone. She had evidently thought of another person that Troy might tell and from the sound of her voice this person was an enormous gossip.

"Who?" Gabriella asked fearfully. If Troy found a way to make Gabriella look particularly bad it could lead to an even more strained relationship between the two. Though she was incredibly angry at Troy Gabriella didn't expect to hate him forever and though she wasn't thinking about trying to be his friend anytime soon she didn't want their relationship to be a bitter one for the rest of their lives. _Or until we finish high school at least_. There was, after all, no way of knowing if Gabriella would see Troy again after they graduated and went off to college.

"The cheerleaders."

"Shit." Gabriella rarely swore but the revelation that Troy would probably be telling the largest group of gossip hungry girls (most of whom wouldn't mind adding a little something extra to cast Gabriella in a bad light either) meant one thing, "We're going to have to talk to Sharpay."

* * *

Carefully Gabriella and Taylor maneuvered their way into the bathroom that Sharpay had just entered. Their plan was to talk loud enough that Sharpay would over hear them just enough to pique her curiosity. If she came over to them and demanded the whole story Gabriella would feed her essentially the real story. Here and there she and Taylor had tweaked it to make Gabriella seem more victimized than she actually had been. Needless to say there wasn't much Tweaking to be done; Gabriella was already most certainly the victim.

Engaging Sharpay was going to be problematic though. Given their past experiences Gabriella and Sharpay were not exactly enemies though most often they were not on speaking terms. Taylor was sure that Sharpay would be willing to converse with the two, if only to get the latest 

East High scandal from the source. Gabriella wasn't so sure, if Sharpay still wanted to date Troy, and she had given no indication that she didn't, wouldn't she rather believe that she and Troy's break-up was the casualty of a misunderstanding rather than his unfaithfulness? Taylor nodded to Gabriella as Sharpay examined herself in the mirror and walked into a stall and Gabriella launched into setting the trap.

"I just can't believe he would do this to me." She whimpered a few notches too loudly. Taylor nodded in feigned understanding.

"I know." At first it seemed like that was all she was going to say before she added venomously, "That bastard."

"Can you believe him!?" Gabriella burst out and suddenly she was no longer acting. The burning anger had returned and it felt good to tell someone exactly how she felt, "First he cheats on me then he breaks up with me! He didn't even try to save our relationship! As soon as I confronted him we were over."

"Gabriella you're way better off without some like that." Taylor played the role of the comforting best friend perfectly. The conviction in her words though made Gabriella wonder if she was the only one who had stopped acting. Still attempting to stick with the plot she and Taylor had developed Gabriella continued on with her faux tirade.

"I know, you're right." Gabriella sighed forlornly and went in for the kill. With a whisper just loud enough that Sharpay and any other girl that was also in the bathroom would be able to hear she said, "But I love him so much."

Not loved in the past tense but love as in she still did. _Just wait until that gets around_, she thought but immediately regretted it. Gabriella really was still in love with Troy, did anyone fall out of love in less than twenty-four hours, she wondered, and she wasn't sure if she wanted her most private feelings to be broadcast around the school.

Quietly Taylor hugged her friend and asked if she was okay. When Gabriella nodded she began to lead her out of the bathroom but before they walked out the door she motioned to the stall that Sharpay had occupied the entire time. It was obvious that she had overheard the whole conversation. Taylor winked and Gabriella concealed a small giggle. It felt good to feel so normal after such an abnormal turn of events.

As the door swung shut another burst open. Sharpay daintily waved her hands under the automatic faucet and grinned at her reflection in the mirror. Unwittingly she had taken the bait and fallen into the trap set by Gabriella and Taylor.

Gabriella's own form of damage control was about to be put into place by none other than her sometimes enemy, Sharpay Evans.

**I personally thought it was only alright but please feel free to give me your own opinions.**


	3. Cracking Up

**Hey everyone. Thanks so much for your reviews! They really mean a lot to me, especially since with my past stories people would eventually just stop reviewing all together. So again thanks and I hope you enjoy this one.**

"Oh my god, Kelsi. Did you hear?" Hannah Kush leaned over the back of her chair conspiratorially.

"About what?" Kelsi Nielson asked warily. It was a well known fact that Hannah was the biggest gossip in the school band. Just last week she had spread a rumor about the first flutist that had caused her to break down in tears in the middle of rehearsal. The details of whatever Hannah said weren't necessarily true but generally the basic idea of whatever story she was telling was factual.

"About Gabriella and Troy. They broke up." She said casually, obviously this wasn't the juicy part of her tale. Deciding that she had better warn Gabriella about whatever rumor was being spread about her Kelsi asked the question that she knew Hannah had been waiting for.

"I heard about that." Kelsi answered just as casually. She had heard about it yesterday from Gabriella herself. Kelsi knew exactly what had happened; Gabriella hadn't embellished her tale at all. Instead of informing Hannah about this though she feigned ignorance, "So do you know how it happened?"

As she expected Hannah smiled and turned all the way around in her chair. A small group had formed around the two girls as the class waited for the bell to ring and band to begin. Always comfortable being the center of attention Hannah flipped her hair behind her ears and started her account.

"Okay so Troy like, went to some party and got totally wasted. While he was there some chick from a different school started like, hitting on him and stuff. She like, tricked him into hooking up with her cause he was like, so drunk, you know? Anyway Troy realized what he had done the next morning and he like, decided not to tell Gabriella. For her own good, you know? But then someone who was at the party went and leaked like, the whole thing to Gabriella. She got so mad that she confronted him in front of the whole school, in like, the middle of the hallway. Anyway when Troy started to explain things to her she totally freaked out on him. She started like, screaming things at him and swearing in his face. So Troy totally dumped her right there, for being such a bitch you know? Anyway that's what I heard." Hannah finished rolling her eyes, "I never liked that Gabriella girl anyway. Troy could do so much better than her."

_Of course_, Kelsi thought, _he could do better than anyone who isn't you_. It was well known that almost any girl in east High would date Troy Bolton if presented with the opportunity. As a result if the topic of dating Troy came up in a conversation best friends could be reduced to competitors and competitors would slip into outright animosity.

Out loud Kelsi interrupted the now chatting group, "Who told you that? About Troy and Gabriella I mean."

"I dunno her name. It was some cheerleader in my Chem class though." Hannah waved one hand signifying that this particular detail wasn't all that important. Of course she was dead wrong about that.

"Well that's not what I heard." Laura Ross, the flutist that Hannah had recently spread a rumor about, said. She regarded Hannah haughtily, the tension between the two crackled through the air. It was plain that she was going to do her best to show up the gossip queen, if only to take the attention away from her own week old scandal.

"Wait, you heard a different story?" One of the other girls cut in, "I heard the same thing that Hannah did."

"Well I talked to Sharpay." Laura countered, "And she heard it from Gabriella herself. Sharpay said that Troy knew what he was doing. He totally didn't care that he was still going out with Gabriella; she wasn't at the party so he didn't think anyone would find out. Can you believe him? So as soon as Gabriella asked him what was up he just broke up with her. Sharpay said that he didn't even try to work things out with her, just dumped her right there. And the craziest thing is Gabriella was totally willing to give him a second chance. What a jerk, I totally sympathize with Gabriella."

"Gabriella told Sharpay that?" Kelsi asked skeptically, "I thought they hated each other."

"No way they're like best friends. Aren't you friends with both of them? Why don't you know this?" Laura turned to Kelsi.

It was true that Kelsi was Gabriella's friend and she hung out with Sharpay whenever the blonde felt like she needed a larger posse. Still she had talked to Gabriella just yesterday and Sharpay the day before but neither girl had spoken of the other. Clearly Laura, who really wasn't friendly with either girl, couldn't be trusted to know the truth of the situation but still something felt wrong. The explanation that Gabriella had given Kelsi about the break up hadn't matched up with either of the two 'true' accounts that she had just heard.

"You know I haven't talked to either of them today. I'll ask Gabriella which one of you was told the real story after school." Kelsi promised the group. She rarely took part in the before class rumor mill but sometimes a good story was just too much to pass up on.

Mostly though, Kelsi didn't like being lied to or taken advantage of, and at the moment it seemed to her that Gabriella, who appeared to be holding back the whole truth of her scandalous break-up, was doing just that.

As the bell rung Kelsi sat down in her seat, opened her music book to the right page, and plotted an intervention with Gabriella.

* * *

In the same girls bathroom where the trap for Sharpay had taken place Gabriella studied her reflection. She methodically reapplied her lip gloss and touched up her barely there eye shadow. Primly she ran her hands over her hair, smoothing it out slightly. It was all part of Gabriella's plan to remain looking like she actually had some semblance of composure. She surveyed herself in the mirror once more, feeling slightly guilty for acting as self absorbed as Sharpay often did. It was worth it though, as long as no one was worried about her she could mourn in silence.

Deciding she looked as perfect as was humanely possible Gabriella turned to walk out of the bathroom. It was only the end of third period and her perfect façade was threatening to fall apart. If she had to escape to the bathroom whenever she was on the verge of falling apart Gabriella wasn't going to make it through the week. She thought back to the beginning of her day.

_Six o'clock A.M.: Thursday _

Gabriella was sharply jerked out of her dreamless sleep by the droning blare of her alarm clock. Her first thought upon reaching consciousness was about her newly acquired status. She had been single for two days and still had not found closure. Troy had been Gabriella's first serious boyfriend, having had no prior experience with breaking up, or being dumped as some might view Gabriella's situation, she didn't know what to expect.

Still, never had Gabriella expected to feel the way she did. She felt lost, as if Troy had been leading her blindfolded through a forest. With him she felt safe, even though she didn't always know where they were going she knew that they would get there together. Now that he was gone she had no idea where to go. She supposed that she could stumble around blindfolded, crashing into trees and eventually falling apart or simply stand were she was waiting for Troy to come back for her. But Gabriella wasn't the type to wait for things to come to her or to give her future up to luck or fate. She knew that she could pull the blindfold off and find her own way through the woods, however dark and confusing they might be. If only she could find the resolve to actually remove the blindfold and face reality. It was so easy to stay ignorant though.

Feigning independence Gabriella pulled herself out of bed and automatically got dressed. She picked neutral and pastel tones. Hues that clearly stated: _I'm all right. No I do not miss my ex-boyfriend at all, in fact good riddance_. If only she could make herself feel that way as well. Meticulously Gabriella ran a brush through her hair, when it was perfectly straight she moved on to her make-up. Light natural eye shadow gave her a healthy look, as if she had actually slept well last night. A light coat of sheer lip gloss gave her an innocent appeal as well. On the outside Gabriella was ready to face the oncoming day, internally she didn't feel quite as confident.

"Morning!" Gabriella called out pseudo cheerfully as she descended the stairs. Her mother called out a reply and set a plate of pancakes in front of her daughter as she sat down.

"Wow." Gabriella gestured to the pancakes, "What's the occasion?"

"Well…" Her mother trailed off as she reached into the back of the cabinet to grab the syrup, "I have a bit of a favor to ask you. You see I have this co-worker."

Gabriella groaned playfully, her mother often went to extremes when asking her for a favor. Still she wasn't going to argue with a pancake breakfast, not when it was already made. Gabriella only hoped it was something small, if the event was too big Gabriella had a feeling that she would have to refuse. She felt fragile, breakable at the moment even the smallest occurrence could cause her to want to break down into tears.

"Okay, does she need me to baby sit or something?" Gabriella felt that she could handle children. Children, especially young ones, would take all of her concentration away from Troy and force her to focus on them.

"Actually no. She has a son Gabriella. And he's just about your age." Gabriella was speechless; her mother was trying to set her up. On a date. Did she really seem that fine? Could she possibly appear that put together that her mother thought she'd be willing to date again?

"Mom!" She finally burst out, "You want me to what? _ Date_ him?! I've been single for two days!" She shoved the pancakes away from herself, grabbed her bag and stormed out the door as her mother called after her about how nice her co-workers son was.

_End of Third Period: Thursday_

The rest of the day so far had gone just about as well. Gabriella had been planning to finish her math and study for a Latin test before school started but she had been so agitated she had forgotten. In math she had been the only one who had not done the homework and had to suffer through the surprised gaping of all the other students. In Latin she had done her best but had forgotten much of the new vocabulary and sentence structure they had gone over.

With nothing to do in her third period study hall Gabriella was left to agonize over her test, her math grade (surely one missed homework wouldn't bring it down too much?), and her mother. What had she been thinking? Did she really believe that her daughter wanted to date again so soon?

Gabriella escaped to the bathroom to collect herself ten minute into the period and still had not gone back. With five minute left until the bell rang she decided to just wait it out there. It was better than having to make up an excuse to the study hall monitor. As Gabriella was preparing herself to face the rest of the day Kelsi walked into the bathroom.

"Hey Gabriella." Her tone was not entirely friendly.

"Hi Kelsi, what's going on?" Gabriella asked. Kelsi was normally so happy and bubbly. To see her looking almost angry worried Gabriella.

"Guess what I heard today? Just last period actually." Kelsi asked. Without waiting for Gabriella to ask what she was talking about Kelsi continued, "I heard that Troy dumped you because you were verbally abusing him about everything that happened after he tried to explain it to you."

"What? That's crazy. You know I didn't do that." Gabriella laughed a bit but it sounded high and brittle even to her own ears.

"Yeah, but I also heard that you told Sharpay that he dumped you even though you were willing to give him a second chance. Funny thing is, I clearly remember you telling me that you never would have stayed with him after what he did." Kelsi raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Kelsi, I had to tell Sharpay that. You heard what Troy was telling everyone." She was pleading now, pleading for one of her best friends to understand her.

"You had to? You didn't _have_ to Gabriella, what about the truth? What about telling everyone what you told me?" Kelsi hadn't changed her stance and looked angrier now than she did before she had heard Gabriella's excuse.

"But…we both look like idiots in the truth." Gabriella knew that sounded weak and that Kelsi wouldn't approve of her motive for lying.

"I see, so lying is better than looking like you made a mistake. Like you're human?" Kelsi asked.

"Can we not talk about this anymore?" Gabriella felt like she was on the brink of falling apart once more.

"Yeah." Kelsi nodded, "Let's not talk anymore. At all." She turned and walked out of the bathroom without glancing at her former friend once more.

Stricken Gabriella turned to the mirror and not knowing what else to do brushed through her hair once more. What was losing one more person? She tried out a smile, one that displayed just how perfectly fine she was pretending to be. It came out looking more than a little demented.

Only two days into her new life and already Gabriella's perfect façade was cracking up.

**So I planned this story out in more detail a few days ago and you can all expect a lot more twists and turns coming up. If you continue to read that is.**


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